Tanzania’s main opposition party says hundreds of people have been killed in protests over the recent presidential election, but the government says figures are “hugely exaggerated” and denies use of excessive force.
On Wednesday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan held an election in which her main challengers were either jailed or barred from standing.
The Chadema party, which is the government’s main opposition, had its leader arrested for treason in April and has been barred from the election for refusing to sign a code of conduct.
In the recent election, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which has been in power since independence in 1961, sought to extend its rule and silence critics, but the vote descended into chaos.
Campaign posters of Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan were vandalised during the protests. (Reuters: Thomas Mukoya)
Crowds took to the streets of Dar es Salaam and other cities, tearing down posters of the president, and attacking police and polling stations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called “for a thorough and impartial investigation into all allegations of excessive use of force” in a statement issued by his spokesperson.
The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada and Norway issued a joint statement expressing concern over the situation and urged Tanzanian authorities to act with maximum restraint and to respect the right of free expression and assembly.
Disputed death toll
Chadema spokesperson John Kitoka said the party had documented about 700 deaths since Wednesday, based on accounts from health workers.
A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam also both told AFP that deaths were “in the hundreds”.
The UN human rights office said credible reports indicated at least 10 people were killed in protests across the cities of Dar es Salaam, Shinyanga and Morogoro.
Speaking to Reuters, Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said the opposition’s death toll was “hugely exaggerated” and that his government had “no figures” on any dead.
He denied that security officers had used excessive force.
Demonstrators carry the body of a man killed during the protest. (Reuters: Thomas Mukoya)
With foreign journalists largely banned from covering the election and a communications blackout entering its third day, information from the ground has been scarce.
The first toll from an international body came early on Friday when the United Nations said it had “credible reports” of 10 dead, while Amnesty International said it had information of at least 100 killed.
Reuters could not independently verify the casualty figures.
Government buildings set on fire
Protesters have taken to the streets since Wednesday, angered by the exclusion of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s two biggest challengers from the race and what they described as widespread repression.
Witnesses have said police fired tear gas and gunshots to break up some demonstrations.
One Dar es Salaam resident, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, told Reuters a family member had been shot dead outside a hospital when he was mistaken for a protester.
Tanzanian riot police use tear gas to disperse the protesters. (Reuters: Thomas Mukoya)
Police have imposed an overnight nationwide curfew over the past two nights after government offices and other buildings were set ablaze.
Internet access has also been disrupted since Wednesday.
Challenge for the president
Ms Hassan has faced opposition from parts of the army and allies of her iron-fisted predecessor, John Magufuli, since she took over upon his death in 2021, analysts say.
They said she wanted an emphatic victory to cement her position in this week’s elections.
In the run-up to the vote, rights groups condemned a “wave of terror” in the east African nation, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.
The recent unrest presents another test for Ms Hassan.
Partial election results announced on Thursday and Friday showed Ms Hassan winning commanding majorities across the country, with complete results still unknown.
The electoral body announced that President Hassan had taken an early lead, garnering 96.99 per cent of the votes in eight out of 272 constituencies tallied early on Thursday.
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